The Austrian Business Circles Delegation to visit Belarus

From the materials of the press briefing by the MFA Press Secretary Andrei Savinykh held on November 3, 2011

On November, 8 – 11 the Austrian business circles delegation will be visiting the Republic of Belarus. The visit is organized by the Embassy of the Republic of Belarus in Austria together with the Economic Chamber of the Republic of Austria.

The delegation will include the representatives of 14 Austrian companies:  STRABAG construction concern (it is already implementing and is planning to implement new investment projects in the sphere of waste processing, engineering infrastructure and water power engineering) , construction group ALPINE (projects in the sphere of civil engineering), trade group PISEC (investment offer for finishing of seamless hot-rolled tubes, of oil and gas pipe grades totaling more than US$ 100 million), RABA ENGINES GROUP (project of creating a joint enterprise with the joint-stock company “Minsk Engine Plant” and the joint-stock company “MAZ” ), SIEMENS VAI METALS TECHNOLOGIES (supply of high-technology equipment for RUE “BMZ”).

The delegation includes the representatives the Austrian banking sector interested in obtaining relevant information on the current situation on the financial market of the Republic of Belarus.

An important topic for discussion will be the measures on the Belarusian side targeted at liberalization of the economic environment as well as of the investment policy and currency regulations.

The representatives of the Austrian banking sector are planning to discuss the possible directions for loan financing of the investment projects Austrian companies participate in.

During the visit the Austrian delegation will meet with the high-level representatives of the Ministry of Economy, the Ministry of Industry, the Ministry of Transport, the Ministry of Construction and Architecture, the Ministry of Agriculture and Food, the National Bank, the Belarusian Chamber of Commerce, and will the management of potential partners among the specialized Belarusian enterprises (joint-stock company “Minsk Engine Plant” , joint-stock company “MAZ”, RUE “BMZ”, and others).

Note: During the first six months of 2011 Belarus attracted US$ 467 million of Austrian investments (including US$ 38.7 million of the direct investments), which represents 113.9 per cent compared to the same figure of 2010. Net value of the foreign direct investments attracted in the first six moths of this year is US$ 13.9 million.

One of the key factors determining the dynamic influx of Austrian credit resources to the Belarusian economy is the entrance of the banking group “Reiffiesen” to the Belarusian financial market the in capacity of a big investor, as well as of the companies such as “Mobilkom Austria”, “Strabag” and “Kronospan” and also the financing of large-scale investment projects in the real economy: joint-stock company “Naftan”, joint-stock company “Mozyr oil-processing plant”, manufacturing group “Belarusneft”, and others.

As of 1, January 2011 104 enterprises with Austrian capital are registered in Belarus, out of them 64 are joint enterprises and 40 are foreign enterprises. The total registered capital of these enterprises is US$ 75.5 million. 

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